New Delhi (20/07/2022): The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in all cases against him and ordered that he be released from custody immediately.
The top court also directed that all the six FIRs against Zubair should be transferred to the Delhi Police Special Cell, which is probing a separate case related to an allegedly objectionable tweet he had posted in 2018 against a Hindu deity.
“We find no reason and justification. We direct the petitioner be released on bail immediately under article 32 in all cases,” the bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud pronounced while hearing Zubair’s petition seeking the quashing of the multiple FIRs registered against him in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly outraging religious sentiments.
Moreover, the court disbanded a special probe in UP against Mohammed Zubair and transferred all UP cases to Delhi. The judges also rejected the Uttar Pradesh government’s request that Mohammed Zubair be “stopped from putting out tweets”.
“It’s like telling a lawyer to not argue any further. How can you tell a journalist he cannot write?” it said.
Mohammed Zubair was arrested on June 27 by Delhi Police in a case related to a three year old tweet. Delhi police had acted on a tweeter complaint by an anonymous account and the said account was even deleted after the arrest of Zubair. Later on, seven more FIRs were filed against him in Uttar Pradesh.
